Holiday Spirit
by FaithinBones
Summary: This is my 2017 Bonesology Christmas exchange fanfic and it is for Jazzyproz.
1. Chapter 1

(Season 7)

This is my Bonesology Christmas exchange fanfic and it is for Jazzyproz. She wanted a B&B focused story, any recurring characters. She wants romance and an unexpected Christmas visitor, any timeframe, any rating, a little light angst and lastly no kid/baby fics. Well here goes. I hope you like it.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

Their first Christmas together as a couple and Brennan was filled with anxiety. She tried not to be, but this was the one holiday that Booth absolutely adored. He preferred it over any other special occasion that she knew of including his birthday.

She really hadn't thought about Christmas until the week before Thanksgiving when Booth started talking about trees and ornaments. He couldn't quite make up his mind whether or not he wanted a Balsam or a Fraser. Apparently there was a difference in the foliage and branch space and he needed optimum room for his ornaments.

He had tried to get her to help decide what tree to buy, but she just wasn't that interested. The last Christmas tree she had had in her apartment had been purchased by her father and he hadn't required her input. Now that Booth was in a relationship with her, he seemed to want to include her in all the Christmas decision making and she wasn't happy about it.

"Booth, I don't care what tree you buy." She was getting annoyed with his constant talk of trees. "I would prefer that the tree not be cut down at all. It is a living thing and to cut it down to merely decorate it for a few weeks then throw it away it just foolish and a waste."

Her snapping at him had taken him aback and made him realize that he might be obsessing over their first tree. If she didn't care what type of tree they had then he would make the decision and not bother her about it. "Okay . . . I've never had an artificial tree before . . . I'll think about it." And he did, but in the end he bought a balsam tree the day after Thanksgiving and set it up in the living room of his apartment.

Once the tree was up in its stand, Booth had thought she might like to help decorate the tree, but that turned out to be a false assumption. After he moved his boxes of decorations into the room, he tried to interest Brennan in decorating for two days until she finally told him she was too busy and the tree was fine the way it was.

Disappointed, he spent a Sunday afternoon watching football games and decorating his tree while Brennan went into the Lab to work on identifying one of the 'lost ones' in Bones Storage. That evening she stayed at her apartment while Booth stayed at his.

The next few days were busy and both didn't have time to worry about Christmas, but like it or not, Brennan knew that the holiday was relentlessly moving forward. Stores were decorated for the holiday and ads were starting to blare out on the radio and television. Booth started a list of the things he wanted to cook for Christmas Day and that included some baking. He always made his grandmother's chocolate chip cookies dipped in chocolate almond bark every year. He missed her and the smell of the cookies baking in the oven reminded him of happy Christmas days celebrated with his grandparents. "She was such a great baker. Pops and I would sit with Jared in the kitchen and eat her cookies and drink milk and she'd sing Christmas songs . . . God I really miss her."

Brennan added some vegetarian dishes to his dinner list, but she knew that she would be the only one eating them. Booth was determined to have turkey and all the other gastronomical delights that went with the holiday and he was not going to give her healthier dishes a try much to her annoyance. "This holiday is just an excuse to overindulge in food and drink. The food you plan to make is enough to feed a small army."

Booth calmly listened to her complain then added another item to his list. "I always cook enough to make some plates for Mr. Moore across the hallway and Mrs. Thompson down at the end of hall. They're both senior citizens living on a tight budget and they don't have any family. I give them enough to last a few days . . . they like my turkey and dressing."

She hadn't known about Mr. Moore or Mrs. Thompson, so felt guilty about her comments about the food he was cooking. It seemed to her that there were too many hidden rituals going on that she wasn't privy too and it just increased her anxiety level.

As much as she hated Christmas and all the obligations that went with it, Brennan felt like a hostage to Booth's holiday spirit. Finally the week before Christmas she told Booth she had enough and she would see him after the holiday was over.

Stunned, Booth watched as Brennan slipped her coat on, grabbed her purse and laptop and left the apartment, closing the door forcefully behind her. After she was gone, Booth stood in the living room and wondered what he had done wrong. He loved Brennan so much and he had wanted to make her happy by including her in all of his holiday plans. After the Christmas tree incident he hadn't asked her to do anything that was holiday related, but it seemed just making plans and listening to Christmas songs was too much for her. He didn't know what to do about it, but he knew that his Christmas was no longer going to be a happy affair not if Brennan didn't want to see him until after the holiday. With Parker in England, it appeared he was going to be alone for the holiday and that just seemed a bit unfair. _Why can't I ever have a good Christmas like when I was a kid and living with Pops? What'd I do to make God so mad at me?_

Oooooooooooooooooooo

She felt guilty for leaving Booth in his apartment which didn't instill any confidence in her decision. Used to being very independent, if she didn't want to participate in anything she didn't agree with. Now that she was part of a romantic couple she knew she was supposed to compromise under certain circumstance and partake in certain social functions, but Christmas was not something she wished to compromise with. Booth knew she wasn't religious and yet he wanted to include her in all of the trappings of Christmas. Once the tree had been set up in Booth's apartment she had accepted it after all she had had a tree in her house the year before she went to Maluku as part of the festive decorations for a party she had thrown. Her father had bought and set it up, but what she was going through now was much more than that. The Christmas carols, the Christmas Specials on television, the special meals Booth planned to make, the cookies he wanted to bake, midnight mass, it was all just too much for her to handle. Brennan had known there would be conflicts in their relationship, but she hadn't counted on a holiday being one of them.

"Perhaps I am overreacting because of my pregnancy. My oestrogen and progesterone have increased and I have noticed that it has affected my moods." She wanted to believe that she was more tolerant of Booth's religion than she was showing, but she found it impossible to separate her feelings about past Christmases from her present. Her abandonment by her parents the day before Christmas, many months in Foster Care where no kind words were given and certainly she was never included in celebrations as meager as they might be. Years of being alone, no family and few friends left her hating Christmas with each passing year. "It will be better for Booth if I stay away from him during the holiday so he may partake of the festivities. He will see it's the right decision for him and me."

Oooooooooooooooooooo

After a few days, Booth went to the Lab and found his partner sitting at her desk rubbing her stomach in slow circles. "Are you okay?" He was worried that she was living apart from him and it just made him nervous that he couldn't be there to help her when she needed the help.

"I'm fine. The baby is active today that's all." Brennan was glad to see her lover, but was determined to keep her distance until the holiday was over. "Is there a case?"

"Nah, I just wanted to see how you're doing." Booth unbuttoned his coat and sat down on the chair in front of her desk. "I kinda miss you." He wanted her to know he still loved her, but he didn't want to push her. "I was wondering if you'd eat lunch with me, at the diner."

She thought about it and realized that she really did miss Booth too. "Yes, of course." She stood up, collected her coat and after her boyfriend helped her put it on, she walked with him to the Lab entrance. "Have you started to make preparations for your Christmas dinner?"

"Yeah, the turkey is in the fridge and I've bought everything I need." He hadn't changed his plans about cooking the dinner since his neighbors counted on him to provide them with a Christmas dinner. "You know you can come back to the apartment. I promise not to talk about Christmas or play carols or watch any specials. It will just be a normal week except for the big dinner I'm going to cook. I didn't mean to make you feel unwelcome at my place. I know you hate Christmas . . . I don't really need to celebrate the holiday. I'm a big boy . . . come back, okay?"

Torn, Brennan wasn't sure what to do. "Let me think about it." She didn't want Booth to give up his holiday, but he wanted her to come back and she wanted to go back too. "I may have over reacted . . . It's not fair of me to spoil your fun . . . I know you love Christmas . . ."

"Not as much as I love you." And Booth meant that. If he had to give up the trappings of Christmas for her, he would. He could still cook his dinner and he could attend midnight mass. It was enough.

Before they reached the entrance to the Lab, Brennan stopped forcing Booth to stop. "I will come back. I let my emotions dictate my actions . . . just don't expect me to partake in the festivities. They mean nothing to me."

"Alright, fair enough." Booth knew that to live with Brennan was going to involve a lot of compromise, but he knew it would be worth it. He loved her and he could adjust certain things in his life to make her happy. After all she was carrying his baby and she loved him. Besides his grandfather and his son, he didn't know of anyone else in the world that cared whether or not he lived or died. He wanted to make her happy when he could and compromising about Christmas was easy enough to do. "I have to cook my dinner and I'm going to attend mass. I can't give those up, but I can tone down the rest of it."

Grateful that Booth was willing to compromise, Brennan smiled. "I'll come over tonight. Perhaps we can have make up sex. That is always good."

Booth grinned. "Damn right it is."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooo

Due to her heavy work load, Brennan arrived at Booth's apartment at seven instead of the six she had hoped for. Once she was in the apartment she noticed that Booth had transformed his apartment back to his original setting. The Christmas tree was gone, the string of lights that had been wrapped around the bookcase was gone. The little plastic Santa and his sleigh was no longer sitting on the coffee table and the garland had been removed from around the bedroom door. Much to her regret, the mistletoe was no longer hanging in the kitchen doorway. "Oh Booth, what have you done?"

Booth looked around and shrugged his shoulders. "I told you I'd tone it down. I keep my word." Booth lit two candles in the middle of the dining room table and pointed over his shoulder. "If you wash up, dinner is almost ready. I thought we'd have a little romantic dinner, a little dancing and whatever else comes to mind . . . welcome home." He smiled and pointed at the entertainment center. "Put on some music while I go get our dinner."

Not sure she liked that Booth had removed the Christmas decorations, Brennan felt like her lover had toned down his festivities too much for her. She hadn't minded the tree and the mistletoe had been a great source of amusement since the week after Thanksgiving when he had hung it from the door frame. Many steamboat kisses had occurred under that particular piece of greenery. "I liked the mistletoe, Booth and the tree was fine . . ."

He heard her, but decided not to talk about it. His tree and the mistletoe were set up in Mrs. Thompson's apartment now and he couldn't ask for them back. After filling his plate with meatloaf and mash potatoes, he filled Brennan's plate with a vegetable stir fry he had done just for her. Once the plates were on the table along with two glasses of sparkling water, Booth sat down and waited for Brennan to join him. Her selection of music was soft and comforting and he thought it added to his romantic dinner.

Once she was back in the room, refreshed, she sat down and sniffed the aroma coming from her plate. "This smells so good. Thank you."

Pleased, Booth used his fork to point at her dish. "I used that kale you bought. I was afraid it might wilt before you came home, but it looked okay to me."

The dinner was delicious and both ate with gusto. They had both missed being together and they were both happy to be back in each others company. After dinner, they placed the dishes, pots and pans in the dishwasher and retired to the living room where they embraced in the middle of the room. After a rather passionate kiss, they both laughed and started to dance. Dancing had become a source of comfort for them. After they had started seeing more of each other, they had found that they argued more, but that when it came time to calm down, dancing did the trick for them. Once they were in each other's arms, slowly moving to whatever music moved them, they forgot about their differences for at least a little while and enjoyed the feel of their bodies molded against each other.

Though Brennan enjoyed dancing with her lover, her feet started to hurt with a vengeance. Retiring to the couch, Booth massaged her feet for a while until the pain stopped and she was comfortable. Moving closer to each other, they smiled as they kissed and moved their hands over each other's bodies. The excitement of being together once more ignited their passions and Booth was soon shirtless much to Brennan's delight. She loved her partner's body and the fact that he had such a beautiful body. Eager to show just how much she loved him, she moved to remove her blouse when a knock came to the door.

Booth wanted to ignore it, but Brennan wouldn't let him. Grumbling, he left the couch and stalked down the hallway eager to get rid of whoever had disturbed his alone time with Brennan. Yanking the door open, he was surprised to see Hannah standing in the hallway, holding a wrapped present in her hand. "Merry Christmas Seeley."

Shocked, Booth stared at his ex-lover and wondered what it was that he was doing wrong in his life. "Why are you here?"

Hannah smiled and held out her present. "I'm back in town for the week and I wanted to talk to you and see how you're doing."

Ignoring the present, he shook his head. "We don't have anything to talk about, Hannah." Booth heard footsteps behind him and he knew that the next few minutes might be just a bit awkward. As he glanced over his shoulder, he noticed the look of concern on Brennan's face and wondered what she planned to do.

Brennan had heard Hannah's voice and felt that she needed to make sure the situation was handled calmly and rationally. After all, the reporter was the past and she was the present and the future. "Hello Hannah."

Surprised to see her friend, Hannah was quick to notice the disheveled look of her friend's clothes and the absence of a shirt on Booth. "I see . . . I came by to see how Seeley is doing and apparently he's doing alright." She wasn't sure if she was really surprised to find them together or not. Apparently old feelings were now new again. "Well, you really should take my present. It would be a shame to let it go to waste."

"Thanks but no thanks." Booth slowly closed the door and turned to face Brennan. "Want some coconut ice cream? I forgot to tell you I bought some for you."

"Thank you, that was so considerate of you." Brennan didn't really like coconut ice cream, but for some reason she had developed a taste for it during her pregnancy, that and pie. "Do you have any pie?"

Amused that Brennan now ate pie after hating it for so many years, Booth grinned and placed his arms around his lover. "You know I do. I have an apple pie in the fridge. We can have a little ice cream a little pie and later a little loving."

His voice was almost a purr which sent shivers down Brennan's spine. "Or a lot of loving . . . I love you, Booth."

He kissed her tenderly and gave her a sweet smile. "I love you too. You're the only one I want Bones. No one else will do. Just you."

"And you are the only one I want too, Booth." Brennan knew that there would always be arguments in their future, but she knew that there would always be reconciliation too. Booth made her happy and she hoped she made him happy. "Are you happy? With me? Is it worth being with me?"

"What a question, Bones. Of course it's worth it." Booth kissed her and that kiss led to more kisses. The pie and ice cream quickly forgotten, they retired to Booth's bedroom where they continued to show just how much they loved each other. During their long night together, Booth realized that there was more than one way to celebrate the holidays and a little mistletoe just might appear back in the kitchen doorway before the week was done. After all, he loved steam boat kisses and so did his partner.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

I hope this is what you wanted, Jazzy. Merry Christmas to all.


	2. Chapter 2

(Season 8)

A/N: this is the second and final chapter of my Bonesology Fanfic exchange story for Jazzyproz. I hope you enjoy it.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooo

While she had been on the run it had been all about survival. She needed to stay at least one step ahead of not only Law Enforcement, but Christopher Pelant. She had taken her daughter with her, because she wasn't her parents and she would never abandon her daughter, but she had taken the child from her father and she still felt guilty about that even if she didn't voice that guilt. Booth had said he understood and maybe he did, but she had deprived him of his child and those lost months would forever be gone.

As Christmas approached, Brennan noticed that Booth hadn't mentioned trees or decorating and that worried her. The previous Christmas, she had felt under attack with Booth's incessant holiday plans, but she now realized that she had deprived him of something that both comforted him and brought him joy. His childhood had been horrifying and the few good memories he had centered around his grandparents. His happiest memories with them were during Christmas.

Now that she was a mother, she realized that it was important to create happy memories for her child and to give her traditions that she could enjoy. She didn't agree with the religious aspects of Christmas, but the idea behind the holiday seemed to be one of giving and being with your family. She could definitely appreciate those sentiments now that she had a family of her own.

She entered the kitchen and found a list of food items on a list lying on the counter. Booth hadn't mentioned cooking Christmas dinner, but it now appeared he was going to continue his tradition after all. The list seemed to be very similar to the list he had made the previous year which meant he still probably meant to give Mrs. Thompson and Mr. Moore their share of Booth's feast. She was glad and admired the fact that he hadn't abandoned his former neighbors just because he had moved.

Now that she knew he was at least thinking of Christmas, she felt that she needed to make sure he had the Christmas he deserved.

Ooooooooooooooooo

The Monday after Thanksgiving, Brennan went to work as usual, but once she arrived she walked into Angela's office in search of a favor. "Angela, I need your help."

"Sure, Bren, what do you need?" It wasn't often that Brennan asked for favors and Angela always tried to help out if she could. "I'm not working on anything right now."

Grateful that Angela had agreed to help her, Brennan explained what she wanted from her friend. "I want to buy a Christmas tree for Booth, but I have never actually bought one before and I don't want to make a mistake."

"You want to buy a Christmas tree?" Angela wasn't sure if she had just stepped into the Twilight Zone or not. "You don't believe in God or his Son, why do you want to buy a tree?"

Brennan glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation. "Last year, Booth removed his Christmas tree and his decorations from his apartment because of me . . . I don't wish to go into why, but he hasn't mentioned Christmas this year and I'm afraid he won't decorate this year because he thinks it will upset me. It won't . . . I have come to realize that Christmas means a lot to Booth. It is connected to his childhood memories and it gives him a sense of joy to celebrate it each year. I want Christine to have good memories too and not just memories of being separated from her father . . . she needs positive memories of her father and what better way to insure that than to celebrate Christmas?"

Brennan hoped she was explaining her thoughts clearly, but the look of puzzlement on Angela's face told her that her friend might not understand as well as she might. "I don't intend to celebrate the religious parts of the holiday that is for Booth to do. Mass is important to Booth and no doubt he will attend a service Christmas Eve. I just want to celebrate the family part of the season. My plan is to take a day off sometime this week, buy a tree, decorate it and if I have time, the house and maybe the yard with Christmas decorations. Booth has a few boxes of decorations, but I will need to buy somethings for the lawn. He doesn't own anything that can be used for that purpose."

"Oh Honey, I am definitely in." Angela grabbed a tablet from her desk and started a list. "We'll need to buy the tree the day we plan to decorate it, but you and I can use a few lunch hours this week to shop for what we'll need before then. We can keep the decorations in my office until it's time to take them to your house to decorate. If we both decorate the tree and the yard it can be done before Booth comes home on whatever day we choose to do this . . . This sounds like so much fun. Thank you for asking me to help you."

Angela's enthusiasm was almost palpable and brought a smile to Brennan's lips. "You'll help me decorate?"

"Are you kidding me?" Angela laughed. "I'm an artist. This is a chance to show off my artistic style. We'll do something a little non-traditional, but tasteful. I love Christmas and I've already got my tree up and decorated. I did it the day after Thanksgiving. Jack let me do it my way and it's beautiful." She picked up her phone from her desk and showed Brennan some pictures she had taken of the tree and the decorations in the living room, Michael-Vincent's room and the front yard. "Jack helped. It was so much fun."

Brennan admired the tree, the festively decorated yard and smiled. "It is beautiful."

"Thank you." Angela placed her phone back on the desk. "Of course the tree was decorated to reflect my style. We'll have to decorate your place to reflect Booth's style. This is going to be so much fun. I can't wait to go shopping."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

On the day Brennan chose to decorate the house, Booth had told her about several meetings he was required to attend and that he wouldn't be able to meet her for lunch. Once she arrived at the Lab, she helped Angela carry the decorations they had stored in her office to Brennan's car and loaded them in the back seat and the trunk of the car. They then informed Cam of their plan to take the day off and she had agreed. Both of her employees rarely took vacation days and if they wanted to use them when it was quiet at the Lab then that was fine with her. Of course, she hadn't expected Hodgins to come to her as soon as Brennan and Angela left to say he was taking a day off too. "Why? It is short notice."

Hodgins shrugged on his jacket and checked his pockets for his car keys. "I want to help decorate Booth's tree. He and Brennan went through a lot this year because of Pelant and I want them to have a nice Christmas . . . I'm their friend."

She couldn't fault his reasoning. "Alright, go . . . have fun. If a body shows up, I'll take Clark to the scene and hold off on calling everyone back in as long as possible."

"Thanks Cam." Hodgins smiled at her and then rushed to the door. "I better hurry. I don't want those two to try to carry the tree into the house by themselves. It has to be set up properly to last at least to the New Year." With that, he raced down the hallway and out the exit.

Returning to her budget, Cam opened her excel file and started to check the numbers to make sure they were accurate. She needed to work in that new gizmo that Hodgins was salivating over. She was hoping the budget would pass as it was, but if they told her to cut anything the what's it would have to be cut and Hodgins would just have to accept it. _Right._

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

It took the trio most of the morning and part of the afternoon to decorate the tree, the living room and the front yard. Hodgins made two trips to the hardware store to buy extension cords and outdoor power outlets. He had misjudged how much he would need during the first trip, but he hadn't known about the flood lights for the nativity scene, so Angela forgave him.

Once they were done, Hodgins checked to make sure everything that was supposed to light up did and that the cords were as hidden as he could make them. He had bought some fake snow at the hardware store during his second trip and used it to cover the power lines crossing the front yard. He set the lights for the yard decorations on a timer so that they would come on just as the sun set. All in all he was quite pleased with the affect and so was Brennan. "Thank you for your help. You too Angela. I have never decorated a tree before. My parents did that for me and Russ when I was a child . . . Booth decorated his tree last year . . . I did pay attention though, so I should be able to do it the next time without aid."

"You're welcome, Honey." Angela was very happy with how everything had turned out. Now she just hoped Booth would like it.

Ooooooooooooooooo

His meetings ran all day and by the time he left work, the sun had set and Booth was in a bad mood. He was sure he had missed dinner with his family and he resented that. He enjoyed watching Brennan feed Christine and sometimes he volunteered to do it when she was busy. He loved how messy his little girl was when it came to eating. It could be stomach turning sometimes, but all in all Christine could be very entertaining. He had really missed her when she was gone and hated missing family time with her now. He also hated it when he had to miss sharing a meal with Brennan at the end of the day. It was a relaxing time for both of them and he loved the routine.

As he drove down his street, Booth noticed lights in his front yard in the distance. Unsure what was going on, he felt his heart begin to race. What if Pelant was back? Picking up speed he hurried down the street until he was close enough to see that the yard was decorated with Christmas decorations. Surprised, he slowed down and pulled into his driveway. Once he was through the gate, he parked his SUV, exited it, hurried back down the driveway and into the front yard. Inspecting the scene, he felt a grin spread on his face. He was shocked and he wasn't sure what was going on, but he loved the surprise.

As he turned to go into the house, he noticed Brennan standing on the porch with Christine sitting on her right hip. "Welcome home Booth."

Hurrying up the stairs, Booth stepped onto the porch and kissed Brennan being careful not to crush his child while he did it. "You decorated the yard? How come? I mean I appreciate it, but . . . why?"

She returned his kiss and turned to open the front door. "Because I want you to celebrate Christmas Booth. It was unfair of me to object to your planned festivities last year. You love Christmas and I want our child to enjoy Christmas too." Once she was through the door she stepped into the living room with Booth following behind her.

As he entered the living room, his eyes were drawn to the tree located in the left hand corner of the room, near the fire place. "Oh my God, Bones." Stunned, he walked over to the tree and took in the decorations. The theme seemed to be coca cola bears and penguins. He recognized some of the decorations as his, but there were new ones too. Mixed in with the polar bears were bulbs with the Flyers logo prominently displayed in the center of each bulb. There were also some tiny hockey sticks hanging here and there on the tree and a couple of tiny ice skates. "Wow. This is so cool."

So glad that Booth loved the decorations, Brennan felt that she had to be honest with him. "Angela helped me pick out the tree and Hodgins set it up. Angela went with me to the store and we picked up the decorations that would match the ones you already own. You will notice we used your teddy bear tree topper. I didn't want to make any changes to your tradition. I know that the teddy bear belonged to your Grams."

He was almost speechless as he looked at the teddy bear. When his grandfather had moved into the retirement home he had to downsize his possessions and he had given his grandson all of his decorations including the tree topper. "My Grams actually made that teddy bear. She loved teddy bears and wanted an angel teddy bear for the top, but they didn't sell anything like it in the stores, so she just made one . . . thanks Bones. I mean it, thanks."

"You're welcome." Brennan was happy that her surprise had been such a success. "I still don't believe in God and I don't want to celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, but of course that shouldn't interfere with your celebration. Don't expect me to go to Mass with you, but I won't say anything when you do. That is part of your celebration and I think you should do what is right for you . . . I want Christine to enjoy her childhood and I want to create happy memories for her. I know you love Christmas and I want her to love Christmas too. I want you both to be happy."

He loved Brennan so much and she was a constant source of surprise. Just when he thought he knew all there was to know about her, she did something like this and he knew he would never really understand her. But then that was the best part of being in a relationship with Brennan. Their relationship would never get stale of that he was certain. "I am happy Bones. I really am." He looked around the room and took in each decoration. "You and Angela and Hodgins did a great job, better than I would have done. Of course you bought new decorations. No way I had enough decorations to do the job . . . I'm going to have to double my grandmother's cookie recipe this year and give them a box of cookies. It's the least I can do after what they did . . . Wow I can't get over how great everything looks . . . Thanks."

Amused, Brennan chuckled. "You're welcome again . . . Booth, I really am sorry about last year. I didn't mean to make a sad memory for you and this summer, when I ran with Christine. I . . ."

Booth didn't want Brennan to dwell on the past. Moving close to her, he placed an arm around her. Careful not to press against his daughter, Booth kissed Brennan. "Hey, I told you that you didn't do anything wrong and I meant it. Yeah, I missed you both, but you're home now and if you have to ever run again, you know you have to take me with you."

"Yes, I do know that." Brennan felt a tear slide down her cheek. "Merry Christmas Booth."

As he wiped the tear from her cheek, Booth gave her a sad smile. "Merry Christmas Bones. I love you. I will always love you."

"And I love you."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I hope you liked my story, Thank you.


End file.
